Coming of Age
by kiwi-sweet2
Summary: Coming of age is difficult for any dog demon. Especially a female one! Will Sesshomaru be able to make it easier? Keep reading to find out! CHP 5 IS OUT!
1. The Fall

Hey everyone! so, yea, this is my fist fanfic ever. Yay me! i'd like it if you'd revieew and tell me what I should improve on. so yea, onto the story!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Inuyasha or any of the gang. (sigh) but I do own Kurokawa, Nakashima, and Matsuo.

"Ahhhh! Get us down from here!" a girl wearing black capris and a green halter top screamed. "I told you guys this was a bad idea, but did you listen to me? No!" she said to the girls on her left side.

"Geeze, don't get so worked up about it." the girl with black capri pants and a blue halter top said.

"Don't get worked up? Nakashima, how am I not supposed to get worked up when we're stuck on top of the Demon Drop and at any second we could fall to our deaths?" said the girl with the green halter. She was thinking, '_How ironic is that?_'

"Hey you guys! Stop bickering and look! I think they want us to get out!" the third girl with black capris also and a red halter on stated.

"Ummmm. Matsuo, how are we gonna get out, I mean we're kinda strapped in." green halter girl said questioningly.

"It looks like there's a guy coming up here to help us with that"Nakashima replied.

"Yay! We're gonna be saved!" green halter squealed.

The man came up and unstrapped the three. While Matsuo, who was at the end opposite green halter, was getting off, Nakashima, who was in the middle looked at green halter, "Hey, Kurokawa, you don't look too good, are you ok?"

"I'm just getting a bad feeling, hurry up and get off"Kurokawa retorted.

Nakashimadid as she said, and whenKurokawa was about to off, WOOSH! The ride came to life and the boxshe was in, fell, fell fast and hard. "Shit!"

No sooner than she said that,her head hit the top of the box she was in (because she was unstrapped). Her last thought before drifting into nothingness was "Oh God, I don't want to die!"

The second before the box collided with the ground, a blur of silver sped past and landed safely on the ground behind some shrubbery. A few moments later, a thing that looked like an overgrown toad ran up toKurokawa savior. "Lord Sesshomaru, who's this?" the toad thing asked.

"I don't know" was the simple reply.

"Why did you save her?"

"I don't know" he said again.

"Does this mean you like humans now?"

"I don't know."

'What's going on with Lord Sesshomaru today? He seems so, unorganized and unfocused. Perhaps he is concentrating about the ceremony coming up.'

"Jaken, go get Rin and bring her here" Sesshomaru said while trying to stop the bleeding fromher head.

"Yes Lord Sesshomaru" came the toad, Jaken's quick response.

When Jaken returned, he was accompanied by a young girl who was about eight years old. The girl, Rin, took one look at the girl in Sesshomaru's arm and immediately her expression changed from one of excitement to one of worry. "Lord Sesshomaru, is she going to be ok?"

"To tell you the truth Rin, I don't know. She's lost a lot of blood and she might be in a coma. The only way she may be able to live is if we take her home and care for her" he said.

"WHAT! You're not seriously thinking of taking that _human_ home with us are you Lord Sesshomaru?" Jaken exclaimed.

"Hey Jaken, have you forgotten that I'm human?" Rin said giving a death glare to Jaken.

"She's not just a human," Sesshomaru butted in before it got violent," she seems kind of, I don't know different."

"Now come on before she has no chance of survival."

They all stood around Sesshomaru, who hadKurokawa in his arm, and they all started flying on a cloud towards Sesshomaru's palace.

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That's it for chp 1. How'd ya like it? To let you guys know, the Demon Drop is a ride that goes like straight up into the sky, then after like 2 seconds, you fall. Read and review people, read and review. Please?


	2. The meeting

Here's chp 2. short chps I know, but they'll get longer. That is, IF you review.

**Disclaimer:** No I don't own Inu and the gang. grrrrrrr.

**A/N: **Don't worry, the rest of the gang will come in soon enough.

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Kurokawaawoke to a blazing headache and struggled to open her eyes. She attempted to put her hand on her head, but another hand stopped her. She looked to see who the owner of the hand was and what she saw took her breath away. He was approximately an 18 year old dog demon with shining silver hair, two purple stripes each cheek and one on each wrist, and a blue crescent moon on his forehead. She was mesmerized by his beautiful golden eyes. His aura had a certain depth and secretiveness to it. He smelt of a camp fire. (I like how hose smell) It was like looking at an angel.

"Don't," the man said gesturing to her head, "you were hurt pretty badly and lost a lot of blood- I'm surprised you survived at all."

"Gee, thanks, I guess,"she responded, "Hey, um, just who are you?"

"I am Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands. And who are you, wench?"

"My name is not wench so therefore I will not respond to that name. My name is Chiaki Kurokawa. You can call me Kuro if you like."

"Uhhh, where am I?" she asked.

"You are at my home. I brought you here to see that you healed." Sesshomaru stated.

"Oh, sorry, where are my manners? Thank you for saving me"Kuro said gratefully.

"Whatever" he said.

"Lie down" Sesshomaru ordered.

"Why?"

"So I can change your bandages."

"Oh, ok."

SoKuro laid down and allowed Sesshomaru to change her bandages. When Sesshomaru had successfully unraveled the bandages, he noticed that all that was left of her wound was slightly raw skin, but no proof of an almost fatal head wound. On the inside he was shocked.

"How could you have healed so fast? Only a demon could heal from such a bad wound that fast. Come to think of it, not even a demon could heal from that that fast." Sesshomaru stated blankly.

"I know demons can't heal that fast, but miko hanyous can."she said hesitantly.

"How can you be a miko hanyou? Your aura is that of a human" he said unbelieving.

"Yeah, well, I don't really know for sure, but my father said that it was because the miko and the demon cancelled each other out everyone was left with the illusion that I was human"Kuro explained.

"Ok prove it." Sesshomaru dared.

Shenodded and closed her eyes. All of a sudden,her ears went from the sides of her head to the top of it and they resembled dog ears, her nails and fangs grew about an inch longer, she grew a tail- her tail was much longer than Sesshomaru's, was softer and silkier that his, and the color matchedKuro's hair perfectly, with streaks of light blonde, red, and brown-, and when she opened her eyes, they had changed from a green to an even more amazing that you thought would be able to look into your soul if she tried. "Do you believe me know?" she asked.

"About the hanyou part, yes, but of the miko part I am skeptical" he stated blandly.

"Fine I'll prove that too." She sat up and put her hand on Sesshomaru's left shoulder. Soon, he felt a tingling sensation and looked down. His arm was growing back! At an amazing speed too! In a few moments, he had his complete set of arms, and the girl's breathing was ragged. Before she fell into unconsciousness, she asked, "Do you believe me now?"

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Well, that's it for chp 2? you likie? you no likie? then tell me! no new chp till I get at least 5 reviews. Buh bies for now.

Kiwi-sweet2


	3. The garden

**A/N:** Hey everyone! sorry its been so long! I've had a lot of homework and projects and JROTC competitions to get ready for, and I've been studying for our inspection coming up in April. To top it all of, I've had the worst case of writers block ever. but last night. my mom's fiance was making me depressed so I went up to my room and suddenly had the urge to finish this chapter! So I guess it was a good I was sad. Well, with out further ado, here's the next segment of Coming of Age.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Inuyasha or any of it's characters. I do, however, own this plot and any OC's that are added to this story.

_'No wonder she seemed so different from any other human. She's not a human' _he thought to himself, '_I suppose I'm not going soft after all_'. He couldn't keep from staring at Kuro's peaceful form. '_She's so beautiful. No human's, youkai's, or hanyou's beauty could ever compare to her's_. '

A stray strand of hair had found its way onto Kuro's face, Sesshomaru was about to wipe it off when….. "Lord Sesshomaru, Lord Sesshomaru, is she up yet?" a super hyper Rin asked jumping up and down, possibly the result of sugar.

"She was up a few minutes ago, but she went back to sleep. By the way, her name is Kuro" he answered as Rin jumped onto the bed Kuro was resting on and examined her closely.

"Why does she look different Lord Sesshomaru?" she asked trying with all her might to sit still but couldn't help bouncing on the bed.

"Because she is not just a human, she is a hanyou," retorted he as he made a mental note to himself to kill Jaken later for allowing her to have so much sugar, " now will you stop bouncing on the bed and talking so loud? You'll wake her up!"

"Sorry, Sorry" Rin whispered.

"Don't worry, I'm awake, you don't have to whisper" Kuro said, surprising the both of them.

"See what you did Rin, your bouncing and loud voice woke her up" Sesshomaru scolded the young girl.

"Rin is sorry she woke you up Kuro."

"That's ok. It wasn't how you bounced or how you talked. I can sleep through almost anything. But I felt the excitement you radiated and I just couldn't stay asleep!"

"Oh, ok then." Rin said looking relieved.

"How are you feeling?" Sesshomaru asked.

"Much, much better, thanks for asking" Kuro replied.

"Lord Sesshomaru, can Rin and Kuro go to the gardens?" Rin inquired.

"I don't know, I think Kuro needs to rest a bit more before she can go out."

"Oh come on Sesshomaru, I'm perfectly healed" Kuro begged.

"Are you sure you're up to it?"

"Of course!"

"Fine then I suppose you can go."

"Yay!" Rin and Kuro said in perfect unison.

A few minutes later Rin and Kuro were headed out the door to Kuro's room. "Bye" they said to Sesshomaru.

"Goodbye, dinner is in two hours, don't be late" he told them while turning around and heading somewhere in the opposite direction of where the girls were going.

"Kay," they said and they raced to the gardens.

Kuro let Rin win, she was a little preoccupied with absorbing the look of the house around her. It was an old- fashioned house, decorated with ancient furniture and paintings and all that good kind of stuff, (you know what I mean). She didn't mind the ancient décor, quite the opposite, she really liked it. I made her feel like she was in her father's old house, before the renovations, of course.

She stopped at one painting in particular. It showed a pile of demons, and a young woman not much older than herself at the top. They all seemed to be reaching for something that was too high for any of them to reach. Kuro looked closer and she saw that it was a small pink jewel. The jewel had an odd pink glow around, she recognized it, it was the glow that appeared when you purified something. Looking at it a little longer, she saw that the flesh of the demons that were touching the light was burning. She seemed drawn to the painting for some reason. She realized that Rin had left her and she had no idea how to get to the gardens so she decided to forget about the painting for now and find her way there. She turned and walked away, never noticing that the young woman in the painting looked exactly like her, ears, tail and all.

Kuro didn't really know where she was going, she was trying to follow the girl's, Rin's, scent, but it was all over the house and she found herself going in circles. She was about to give up and go back to her room when she turned a corner and, "There you are Kuro, I thought you got lost for a second." Rin said.

"Well I kinda did, but I found my way." She responded.

They were in front of two gihugic doors. They were made of dark wood and had vines with roses tracing around the edges, and in the middle of the doors was one large rose. _'I wonder where these could lead. The kitchen perhaps? '_ Kuro thought sarcastically.

They walked through the humongous doors and stepped into the most beautiful garden Kuro had ever seen. '_Wow'_ she thought as she looked around. There were fountains every couple feet, tall, healthy trees, all the types of flowers you could ever imagine, and in the distance, she could see a pretty stream with an amazing waterfall. It was liked she had just stepped into an enchanted forest.

"Do you like it?" Rin asked.

"Yes, it is very beautiful,"

"This is Rin's very favorite place in the whole castle."

"I can see why"

"Kuro, would you like to help Rin pick flowers for Lord Sesshomaru?"

"Sure, why not"

Rin ran off and picked and when she came back, she had a silver rose with blue tips in her hands. "Wow Rin that's a beautiful flower!" Kuro exclaimed.

"Do you really think so? Then Rin is going to go back over there and pick some more."

"Ok, I'll just go over here and pick some of these then."

Kuro started looking around the garden for the perfect flower. Then she found it. Her favorite flower in the whole wide world. Sandalwood. She was very excited, sandalwood flowers did not grow around where she lived. Kuro loved them so much because they were simple and not to extravagant complicated, and because they smelled so good. She smiled to herself and started picking a bouquet to put in her room. "Kuro, what flowers are those?" Rin asked from behind her.

"These Rin, are called sandalwood. They are positively my favorite flower. Here smell them." Kuro answered putting the flowers right below Rin's nose.

"Wow, these smell really good!" Rin exclaimed.

"I know don't they?"

"Kuro, will you come play in the stream with me?"

"Ok, sure"

Sandalwood is totally the best flower ever! But yea, there ya go, was it good, bad, somewhere inbetween? Please tell me! I've got about half of the next chapter written so it should be here by the weekend. But hey, no promises. Next chapter I will be adding a few more OC's k? Don't forget to Read and Review! Buh Bies:)


	4. the stream

Kuro and Rin had so much fun playing in the stream that they didn't notice the servants looking for them until one found them laying on the shore of the stream.

"Lady Rin, Lady Kuro, where have you been, everyone's been looking for you" the servant asked.

"What do you mean everyone's been looking for us? We still have a good hour left until dinner" Kuro said.

"No Lady Kuro, dinner was finished hours ago."

"Well, Nagasaki, we haven't left the gardens" Rin stated.

"What do you mean 'haven't left the gardens'? I've passed by this stream about twenty times looking for you" the servant now identified as Nagasaki said.

"There is no way we played in that stream for more than two hours and no body saw us doing it" Kuro announced.

"Wait," Nagasaki started, "you were playing in this stream?"

"Yes Nagasaki, we were. Why?" Rin answered.

"Because this stream has magic that makes the people that go in it stay in it until they are calm and at ease with their lives and no longer wish to keep secrets. No matter how long it takes. My guess is that one of you had a lot of pent up stress and tension that they needed to get out and a lot of secrets they didn't want to tell." Nagasaki explained.

"But, Naga-san, I play in this stream all the time and I'm never in it this long" Rin told the servant.

"It must have been Lady Kuro then that was the cause of the prolonged play"

"Still though, if that it true, it doesn't explain why no one saw us" Kuro reasoned.

"Lady Kuro, you have the ability to produce barriers, do you not?" Nagasaki asked.

"Yes, I do, why?"

"Because I believe that you had so much stress, tension, and hidden secrets, that the stream did not want you interrupted until you were cleansed and, thus, tapped into your barrier magic, making it so that we could not see or hear you"

"That's crazy!" Kuro exclaimed. Even though she did feel a lot more at ease than she had ever remembered feeling. And, all of a sudden, she had this strange urge to tell everyone all her secrets, a would if they just asked.

"As crazy as a half miko- half demon?" Nagasaki questioned.

"I guess it is possible" Kuro said admitting defeat.

"Ok, now that we agree on this, why don't we go get you two out of these cold clothes" Nagasaki stated, noting that both girls were soaked to the bone and shivering like crazy.

"Sounds delightful" Rin sighed.

So Rin, Kuro, and Nagasaki started making their way to their rooms. They had just stepped out of the gardens when another servant met with them.

"Oh good, you have found them" she said.

"What do you need, Mononoke?" Nagasaki asked.

"Lord Sesshomaru wishes to see the two Ladies immediately" the servant Mononoke stated.

"Can we at least go change out of these sopping wet clothes?" Kuro asked.

"I'm afraid not" Mononoke answered.

"What? They could catch cold" Nagasaki said.

"Sorry, Lord Sesshomaru's orders. Now, Ladies come with me please."

"Hold on. Nagasaki, could you take Rin to her room so she could change out of those clothes before she catches pneumonia? Then take her to Sesshomaru's office. I'd rather Sesshomaru yell at me than have Rin get sick" Kuro said.

"Yes milady. Come Lady Rin" Nagasaki said while leading Rin towards her room.

"Ok come now Lady Kuro, we mustn't keep Lord Sesshomaru waiting" Mononoke stated leading her down another hallway.

'_Oh no, mustn't do that'_ Kuro thought to herself while rolling her eyes. She followed the demon servant. Mononoke looked about the same age as Kuro but was about a head shorter than her; had long, black hair that was tied up in a high ponytail, with fair skin, and dark brown eyes. She was wearing a simple blue kimono with a silver obi. She looked like a human, but Kuro could sense that she was just masking her true state as a demon.

After a few minutes of silence, Kuro started getting bored, so she decided to start a conversation.

"I know that we have not been properly introduced, so- Hello, my name Chiaki Kurokawa- Kuro for short- and you are?" Kuro started.

"My name is Saganashi Mononoke. But you can call me Noke for short Lady Kuro" Mononoke answered back.

"Must you call me Lady? I'd really rather if you just call me Kuro."

"Yes milady, I mean, Kuro."

"Much better," Kuro sighed, "Noke-chan, what kind of demon are you?"

"Me? I am snow leopard demon. Up in the mountains, my family went through a really bad winter when we were about five; we had nothing to eat, and everyone started getting sick. All of my family died except me and Nagasaki- my brother. So, we came down here looking for food and were on the verge of death when Lord Sesshomaru found us and took us in. He offered us a home and food if we agreed to work in his household. As you can see, we agreed." Noke explained.

"Oh, I see. Where did you learn to mask your true state?" Kuro asked.

"Lord Sesshomaru taught us how. He teaches all of his workers now so that we can travel outdoors without drawing attention to ourselves. Surely you understand."

"I understand perfectly. What I don't understand is why you keep hiding yourself while in the house. No humans except Rin are able to see you here. So why do you keep your true state hidden?"

"That Kuro is a question for another day. We are here" Noke said motioning to a grand door that was easily four feet taller than Kuro, and she was five foot seven! The doors were made of a dark wood, cedar most likely. Imprinted on the door was a deep purple crescent moon. The door also had an intricately carved silver dog knocker.

"This is where we part. I have other duties to attend to. I will see you in the morning Kuro." And with that, Noke scampered down another hallway to a destination unknown to Kuro. _'Looks like someone's scared of Mr. Sesshomaru. Could a man-demon- that saved my life without even knowing me really be so scary?'_

Kuro stood in front of the door, unsure as to whether or not to knock. As she was bringing her fist down to knock the dog shaped knocker, she heard a cold voice say, "Enter."

**A/N:** Ok, this is the last update I will be able to do for about two weeks. My mom is going to Virginia for some Navy stuff, and my dad has wireless internet, so I can't plug my laptop into the computer. Sorry! But if you review, I'll try with all my might to find a way to update. Tata for now!


	5. The fight

**A/N: **I am soooooooo sorry for how long it has been since I updated! I am very angry at myself for letting my self wait this long to update and I refuse to dally anymore, sooo, on with the story!

Hearing that voice filled with such ice, and feeling all the hostility coming from that room made Kuro shudder and wish she had gone with Rin to put dry clothes on. After taking a deep breath to steady herself and willing herself to stop shivering, she heaved open the large doors.

The room behind the doors seemed to be a study of sorts. Piles of papers were strewn all about the room as if someone had been looking for something, and in their haste to find it, had not bothered to clean up after themselves. On the wall opposite the door, there was a floor to ceiling window that had a beautiful view of the ocean that was on the west side of the palace. The window had a door leading out to a balcony where you just sit back, relax, and enjoy the beauty of the outdoors. The other two walls held built in bookcases that reached all the way to the ceiling. The cases were so full of books; some of them were overflowing onto the floor and stacked on top of each other. In the center of this large, busy workspace sat a very large desk so covered in paperwork that one could not tell what it was made of. At this desk sat a rather angry taiyoukai.

When Kuro entered the room, Sesshomaru's head snapped up, and after taking a quick whiff of the air and looking around her, his eyes starting flashing between a beautiful golden that rivaled the sun, and a murderous crimson that resembled freshly spilt blood. "Where is Rin?" the enraged demon lord growled out.

"Umm… Well, she is in her room changing into dry clothes," Kuro started, "but she should be here shortly."

"And why, per say, were her clothes wet to begin with?" He said, somewhat calmly.

"You see, what had happened was.." then she took one large breath and started speaking so fast one could barely understand, "We were in the garden picking flowers, playing tag, and all that jazz, and we got hot so we decide to take a swim in that pretty little stream, but what we didn't expect was the stream to have a mind of its own and basically kidnap us without our knowledge, and then we got out and Nagasaki found us and told us that it was a magic stream, and-"

"Silence!" Sesshomaru interrupted, "enough with your incessant babbling! You were not to be late to dinner, and what did you two do? Not even show up! Rin is just a child so I understand that she lost track of time, but you are an adult, and as such you need to have the responsibility to know when you need to be somewhere. Or did your human mother never think to teach you about punctuality? No matter the reason-"

"Now wait just a minute, you rude, ignorant, ass! You do not even know my mother, so how dare you try to insinuate that she was a simpleton and didn't teach me anything! For your information, my mother was the most re-- never mind about her! Also, I was uninformed that the stream held special powers and that it was able to tap into a persons' powers and produce a barrier! Who has a stream like that out in the open anyways?! Especially with a child running around! She could go in there one day for a relaxing swim, get tired and drown from not being able to get out of the stream because of some secrets she wants to keep! What would you do then Mr. High-and-Mighty?!" Kuro screamed all of this at the top of her lungs in about three breaths, so that by the end of her little tirade, she was panting heavily.

By this time, Sesshomaru's eyes had stopped flashing between two colors and had settled on one; the murderous crimson that promised death. "Are you quite finished, pup?" at Kuro's silence, he continued, "Good. You know, most people that speak out against me are annihilated before they can even finish the sentence; however, what you had to say mildly interested me, so I listened. Now that you are done; I shall not regret killing you for your disrespect."

As he was speaking, Sesshomaru stalked closer to Kuro until she was backed up into a wall. After he had finished speaking, he grabbed the miko-hanyou by the throat and began to cut off the supply of oxygen to the lungs of the young woman. Just as the taiyoukai was about to plunge his poison covered claws into her abdomen, a little, black blur ran into the room and grabbed onto Sesshomaru's leg. "Please, please don't hurt her, she is nice to Rin and picks flowers with her!"

The enraged demon lord decided to ignore the little girl and proceed to strangle to woman in his hold. Rin started to cry and pulled on Sesshomaru harder, trying to get his attention, "Please, don't kill Rin's momma!"

At this, his eyes flashed back to their normal color and Sesshomaru released Kuro, letting her fall to the ground in a wet, sobbing heap.


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